Tell the Truth, B.B. Wolf

Tracksuit-wearing B.B. Wolf makes a return to a trip to the library in this companion to Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf, this time to relate a story from his bad old days--that of the three little pigs. Embarrassed about his past actions, he engages in some revisionist history ("I followed my nose and found another little piggie playing with matches next to a pile of sticks. The sticks were on fire, so I blew on them... to put out the flames, you understand"), causing the fairy tale characters in attendance to insist he come clean. As delightfully twisted as its predecessor. Ages 58. (Aug.) Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 3—his brilliant retelling deserves a place at the head of the fractured-fairy-tale pack next to Jon Scieszka's "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs"(Puffin, 1995). Following "Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf"(Knopf, 2007), the notorious Big Bad Wolf and other fairy-tale characters of ill repute are hard at work fixing up the Villain Villa Senior Center when Wolf's cell phone rings and the local librarian invites him to tell the story of how he met the three pigs. Ashamed of his prior transgressions, Wolf tells a gentler version involving blowing on dandelions and saving pigs from matches. Heckling from the pigs in the audience finally prompts this reformed Wolf to ask for their forgiveness. His transformation is not complete without a new middle name, though (provided by the library's dictionary), and a fitting act of reparation. Musical segments send an already madcap narrative over-the-top. Seibold's vivid computer illustrations, replete with comic touches, are a perfect match for Sierra's zany tale. Reluctant readers familiar with the bold imagery and comic timing of after-school cartoons will be glued to this inspired collaboration.—"Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI" Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.